Improvement in hydraulic canal-lifts



Z 3 Sheet--Sh'eet1 E. CLARK.

v Hydraulic Canal-Lifts. No.153J56. P atent'edlul y 2hi874.

., jizveiztoic' THE GRAPHIC CO. PHOTe' H.395 4| PARK PLACE, NY.

v 3Sheets--Sheet2.

E.- CLARK. I Hydrauiic Banal-Lifts. N 153 156 Patented July 21,1874.

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NE GRAPHIC C0, PHOTO-1143981 4| PARK PLACE, N.Y.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWIN CLARK, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN HYDRAULIC CANAL-LIFTSLJ".

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 153,156, dated July 21,1874; application filed April 24, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN CLARK, of 5 WVestminster Chambers, Victoriastreet, London, in the county of Middlesex, England, civil engineer, asubject-of the Queen of Great Britain, have invented or discovered newand useful Improvements in Machinery for Raising and Lowering Ships andVessels; and I, the said EDWIN CLARK, do hereby declare the nature ofthe said invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, tobe particularly described and ascertained in and by the followingstatement thereof-that is to say:

This invention has for its object improve ments in machinery for raisingand lowering ships and vessels.

In order to pass ships and vessels from one level to another, in placeof constructing locks, as is now usual, I form a large tank ofsuflicient capacity to admit of the ship or vessel being floated intoit, and I lift or lower the tank, with the ship or vessel floatingwithin it, from the one level to the other.

The lifting and lowering gear consists of an hydraulic ram or rams. Theends of the tank are fitted with gates, or are otherwise arranged, sothat they can open to pass the ship or vessel and close behind it, andthe ends of the upper and lower water-courses are also provided withgates, so that they may be made to communicate freely with the tank whenit has been brought to the proper level.

It is preferred, in order to economize power and time, to employ twotanks, one ascending when the other descends, and the ram or rams whichsupport one tank are caused to communicate with the ram or rams whichsupport the other, so that the water discharged from the cylinder orcylinders of one set of rams enters the cylinder or cylinders of theother set. Thus the tanks are made to balance each other, and whenequally loaded they have no tendency to move.

The power to work the apparatus may be derived in great part fromloading the descending tank with water somewhat more deeply than theascending tank; but means are also provided for admitting water from anaccumulator to either set of rams when it is required.

Where a series or number of rams are employed to support a ship orvessel in a tank, as above described, I apply automatic controllingapparatus in such manner that some of the rains at one end or side ofthe series control others at the other end or side, and so I insure thatthe tank or platform shall be kept approximately horizontal.

Apparatus in connection with the rams at one end or side, as they ascendand descend, causes a beveled wheel to rotate, and similar apparatus inconnection with the rams at the other end or side acts similarly uponanother beveled wheel, rotating it, however, in the opposite directiomBetween these wheels is a third, which, when there is any inequality inthe motion of the first two wheels, is carried round and gives motion tocams which act upon water-taps, cutting off the supply of water to, orallowing the water to escape from, the cylinders of the rams which aretoo high.

In order that my said invention may be most fully understood, andreadily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the drawingshereunto annexed.

Figure l is an elevation, Fig. 2 a plan, and Figs. 3 and 4 aretransverse sections, of machinery adapted to pass small vessels, such ascanal-barges, between two navigable channels, at an upper and a lowerlevel.

a is the lower channel, and b is the upper channel, which, in the caserepresented by the drawings, is continued by an iron aqueduct across thelower channel. It is fitted with lockgates near its open end. 0 and dare two similar tanks, each of a size to allow of a canalbarge beingfloated into it. Each tank is provided with gates at one end. Thesetanks can be moved up and down vertically between the guides c 0 througha distance equal to the difference of level of the two navigations. Thebottoms of the tanks are very stiffly constructed, and each is rigidlyfixed upon the top ofa hydraulic ram. These rams are marked f and f, andtheir cylinders g and g are sunk in the ground and firmly supported by abed of concrete. The cylinders g and g are connected by a pipe with astop-valve upon it. Each of them is also provided with an outletvalve,and they can also be put into communication, when necessary, with anaccumulator, 71, into which water is pumped at a pressure directions.

adequate to raise the rams. The tanks 0 and d, when down, are receivedinto artificial channels in communication with the channel (1. Gates maybe provided to these channels. When the tanks 0 and d are in their upperpositions they coincide with upper channels I), and ordinary precautionsare taken to make asufliciently water tight joint between the two. Whenone of the tanks is thus raised, the other being in its lower position,gates at the end of the channel b and at the'end of the raised tank areopened, and a barge is floated either into or out from the tank. Thishaving been done, and the gates shut, communication is opened betweenthe cylinders g and g. The upper trough, with the barge which may bewithin it, then commences to descend, and the lower trough to rise,things being so arranged that the water-level in the upper trough shallstand somewhat higher than it does in the lower. The movement continuesuntil the descending tank has reached the water in the channel a, and atthis time the tanks are brought to rest, and the communication betweenthe cylinders g and g is closed. The ascending tank is atterward raisedthe short distance necessary to bring it to its place by means of theaccumulator. The descent of the other tank is completed by opening theoutlet-valve of the cylinder of the descending ram. In some cases thechannel a may be run dry before receiving the descending tank, and thenthere will be little, if any, work to be done from the accumulator.\Vhen the weights to be moved are greater than admit advantageously ofthe use of a single ram, I employ a series of rams in connection witheach tank, and I apply selfactingcontrolling apparatus to insure thatall the rams of each series shall rise and fall in unison.

Fig. 5 is an elevation. Fig. 7 is an end view.

a. and b are the upper and lower watercourses. 0 and d are the twoship-tanks. ff

6 i a lan, and

' f and f f f are the rams by which these tanks are supported,respectively. 1 g g and g g g are the ram -cylinders. h is anaccumulator. i i are racks, which rise and fall with the rams at the twoends of the series. In so doing, they drive spur-wheels upon the axes kk, which have upon them two beveled pinions, l l, forming part of thecont-rolling apparatus. This apparatus is shown to a larger scale inFigs. 8 and 9. So long as the rams move at the same speed and in thesame direction the beveled pinions l (rotate at the same speed, but inopposite Between the pinions l is a similar pinion, m carried by awheel, m which is free to rotate concentrically with the pinions I. n isa weight tending to .hold the wheel m in the position in which it isshown, and it remains in this position so long as the rams move at thesame speed; but if the speeds become different, the wheel m commences torotate, and the cams m m upon it open one or other of the safety-valvesa n". In a similar manner they are made to close other valves notrepresented in the drawings. he rams supporting each tank are dividedinto three sets, which in Fig. 5 are marked 1, 2, and 3, respectively.The cylinders of each set are connected, by pipes, with the cylinders ofthe corresponding set belonging to the other tank, and the cams of thecontrolling apparatus act to close the valves on the connecting-pipes ofsuch of the rams as commence to overrun the others, and

to open the safety-valves of such of the rams as may stand at too high alevel.

There are two similar controlling mechanisms to each trough--one for thesets 1 and 2, and the other for the sets 2 and 3. Similar selfcontrolling apparatus is also advantageously employed when ships arelifted by hydraulic power upon pontons or grids.

The series of rams is divided into three sets, in the manner alreadydescribed, and each. set is Worked from a separate accumulator, or itmay be by pumps directly supplying the ramcylinder, in which case thecams of the controlling apparatus may act upon the throttlevalve of thesteam-engine, or the cams may open relief-valves to allow the excess ofwater pumped by either of the engines to run to waste.

Having thus described the nature of my said invention, and the manner ofperforming the same, I would have it understood that I claim- 7 1. Thecombination, substantially as set forth, of the tank, the gates thereof,the upright hydraulic cylinder with its ram, and the upper and lowergated channels.

2. The combination, substantially as set forth, of the two tanks, therespective gates thereof, the respective hydraulic cylinders thereofwith their rams, the respective upper and lower gated channels, and thepipes connectin g the cylinders of the two tanks, so that the weight ofone tank is counterbalanced in whole or in part by that of the other.

EDWIN CLARK.

\Vitnesses G. F. WARREN, WILMnn M. HARRIS, Both of N0. 17 Gwlceclmrcllstreet, London.

